Plot Summary

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John Holmes was a legend of the porn industry and revered in circles as a stud. But in 1981, years after his successful career and star fading, Holmes was a desperate man with his own internal demons to live up to. He's estranged from his wife, holding onto a relationship with his teenage mistress, and living as a junkie in search of his next fix. But one fateful night left four people dead and John as a key suspect in one of the most grisly murders in Los Angeles. Was he partly responsible for what happened at Wonderland Avenue?

On the afternoon of July 1, 1981, Los Angeles police responded to a distress call at 8763 Wonderland Avenue in Laurel Canyon and discovered a grisly quadruple homicide. Drug dealers Ron Launius, Billy Deverell, Barbara Richardson, and the homeowner Joy Miller were found brutally murdered, bludgeoned to death with lead or steel pipes, and Launius's wife, Susan, was left in critical condition. The police investigation that followed -- led by detectives Sam Nico, Louis Cruz and Mike Peters -- would unearth a seedy world of drugs and violence, ultimately revealing a motley crew from L. A.'s underbelly including ex-con David Lind, nightclub impresario Eddie Nash, and porn legend John Holmes as well as Holmes's estranged wife Sharon and his teenage lover Dawn Schiller.

The movie looks at the events that led up to the infamous Wonderland Murders in Los Angeles on July 1, 1981, as well as the investigation. What is known for sure is that four people were murdered in their Wonderland Avenue apartment, apparently as retaliation for their robbery of a notorious L.A. nightclub magnate named Eddie Nash. What is not known is what part porn star John Holmes played in the murders. The police investigation relies on the testimony of two men: Holmes himself, and a biker named David Lind who took part in a robbery of Eddie Nash's house two days earlier, and whose girlfriend, Barbara, was one of the victims. Lind claims that Holmes had to have taken part directly in the murders (and, in fact, his hand print was found at the crime scene). However, Holmes claims that he only set up the robbery and the hit, but wasn't in the apartment at the time of the murders. Now the police are caught in a dilemma: who are they supposed to believe? A biker with a heroin habit who has a personal ax to grind against Holmes, or a porn star with a notorious cocaine habit who is also known in many circles as a pathological liar?